


"In Her Hands"

by Adarog (RembrandtsWife)



Category: Merlin - Fandom
Genre: F/M, Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-12-07
Updated: 2009-12-07
Packaged: 2017-10-13 20:26:10
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 938
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/141412
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RembrandtsWife/pseuds/Adarog
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The future of Camelot lies in her hands.</p>
            </blockquote>





	"In Her Hands"

**Author's Note:**

  * Translation into Русский available: [В ее руках](https://archiveofourown.org/works/1547618) by [krasnoe_solnishko](https://archiveofourown.org/users/krasnoe_solnishko/pseuds/krasnoe_solnishko)



> My take on why this Arthur might want to marry this Guinevere, without having seen most of the Arthur/Gwen offered by the second series.

  
  
  
  
**Entry tags:**   
|   
[arthur/gwen](http://adarog.livejournal.com/tag/arthur%2Fgwen), [arthur/merlin](http://adarog.livejournal.com/tag/arthur%2Fmerlin), [fic](http://adarog.livejournal.com/tag/fic), [frt](http://adarog.livejournal.com/tag/frt), [m/f](http://adarog.livejournal.com/tag/m%2Ff), [m/m](http://adarog.livejournal.com/tag/m%2Fm), [merlin](http://adarog.livejournal.com/tag/merlin)  
  
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"Guinevere," the king said. "Please, sit down."

There were two chairs drawn up by the fire, with a table between them, a jug and two cups on a tray. Both chairs were exactly the same size; after a moment's hesitation, Gwen seated herself on the right.

Arthur waited till she had sat down, then took the chair opposite her. It was very strange to sit face to face with the king, and stranger still, perhaps, to think of Arthur as "the king". Uther had been dead for over a year, yet his presence lingered in Camelot, a kind of chill that no fire seemed to drive away.

"May I pour you some wine?" Arthur asked. It was easier if she thought of him as Arthur. He looked a little older, more serious; the beard he was trying to grow was coming in unexpectedly dark.

"No--no, I mean, yes. Yes, thank you." He filled both cups without remark and handed her one, then lifted his own in salute. It was a golden vintage, a little sweet, not too strong.

"Thank you," she said again, then waited. Arthur sipped at his wine, gazing into the fire. He seemed... nervous, almost, as if unsure of his footing against an opponent. Gwen composed herself and waited. Waiting was something she had learned to do when she was very young.

"I want to ask you something," Arthur said. He set down his cup. "I want you to hear me out, I want you to hear my reasons, before you say yes or no."

He paused so long that Gwen was forced to say, "All right."

Arthur took a deep breath. "I would like you to marry me, Gwen. I want to make you my queen."

Instinctively she opened her mouth to protest, but a raised hand from the king stopped her. "You said you'd hear me out, right?" The smile was still the smile she remembered, confident and golden.

"Princes don't marry for love, Gwen. You know that as well as I do. But you have been a--a friend to me as well as a loyal servant. I hope that there is some kind of friendship between us."

She nodded, hoping and fearing that he would go on.

"I don't want to use my marital status as a chess piece. I want the people of my kingdom to see that I am committed to *them*, to their welfare, first and foremost. To marry a, a commoner, one of my own subjects, would show them that. And it would show other kings and princes that I cannot be manipulated through their marriageable daughters. It would deprive them of an advantage against me."

He had been looking at her very earnestly, that look that made a person want to do anything for him. Now he looked away, picked up his cup again. "Also I, ah, I want to get an heir as soon as possible. My father waited so long... I mean--"

"I know," was all Gwen said. It was enough.

"If you accept," Arthur went on, more certainly, "I will raise you to the nobility. I'll settle you with your own lands and title--my mother had lands in Cornwall, I would make them yours--and any children beyond the first-born son would inherit them." He looked her straight in the eye. "Any child of yours, Gwen, would be a child of mine."

Was he really saying what she thought he was saying? Her heart thudded so hard in her chest she thought he must be able to see it.

"I know you think the best of me, Gwen. That I can be a good king, a better king than my father. A more just and more compassionate king." He swallowed. "I believe I need your help to do that. And... I need-- I need someone who would understand--"

She had to take pity on him. "You need someone who understands how you feel about Merlin."

Arthur slumped a little in his chair. The proud golden head bowed, and for a moment he was the youth she had once caught kissing his manservant passionately, then falling to his knees to kiss him passionately in a different way.

"He is my heart," he said in a low voice. "In a little while I'm going to lift my father's ban on magic and make him my Court Sorcerer and chief advisor. He is... the person who will always be closest to me, in all the world. But I still need a queen, and an heir." He looked at her, biting his lip.

A bargain, then. Lands, title, position, influence: Queen of Camelot. Arthur would keep Merlin by his side, and she could keep Lancelot close to her, if she wanted. As long as she did her best to give Arthur an heir. Now it was Arthur who waited for her to speak.

For a moment, the worst possible outcome unfolded before her. If she were barren, or if Arthur were not vital... years of loneliness, unable to secure the succession, growing apart from her husband, unable to relax with her lover because no children were forthcoming... turning to Merlin, perhaps, to intervene with magic. And then what? and then what?

Morgana might have been able to foresee the consequences, but Morgana-- Gwen drank the last of her wine. The future lay in her hands. The hands of a serving maid, a blacksmith's daughter, a woman.

"Yes." She reached out and took Arthur's hand in her own. "I will marry you, Arthur."


End file.
